September 26, 2018

OAKLAND, CA -- As the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation holds a hearing on Wednesday “to examine safeguards for consumer privacy,” Chairman of Californians for Consumer Privacy Alastair Mactaggartstrongly encourages honorable members of the committee to adhere to the example set by California’s passage of groundbreaking privacy legislation in June: AB 375 (Chau, Hertzberg, Dodd) signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown.

“California is leading the way in creating unprecedented consumer protections for the rest of the nation,” said Alastair Mactaggart, chairman of Californians for Consumer Privacy. “The federal government should provide ALL consumers with the same protections afforded to Californians by the California Consumer Privacy Act, including the fundamental right to know what information companies are collecting about you and your families, and the right to tell them to stop sharing that information.”

Specifically (AB 375) gives all California consumers the right to:

Know all data collected by a business on you

Say no to the sale of your information.

Delete data you’ve given to a business.

Be informed what categories of data will be collected about you prior to its collection.

Mandated opt-in before sale of children’s information (under the age of 16).

Know where your data is shared.

Know where your data was acquired.

Know why your information is being collected.

A private right of action (meaning you can sue companies) when companies don’t take reasonable steps to protect your information, and it’s stolen.

“This legislation broke new ground in ways we didn’t think were possible only months ago. It is the most far-reaching consumer privacy legislation ever passed in the United States, and with one stroke of Governor Brown’s pen, the 5th largest economy in the world has meaningful privacy protection for the first time,” added Mactaggart. “To be clear: We will fight back against any attempts to undermine our state’s ability to provide these fundamental rights to California consumers, and will support further efforts to provide these rights to ALL Americans.”

“We are on the right side of history here,” he added. “Europe has just made huge strides forward in consumer privacy. And as goes California, so goes the nation—it happened in auto emissions, solar technology, and entertainment—it will happen in privacy.”

About the California Consumer Privacy Act

The California Consumer Privacy Act started as a ballot referendum signed by 629,000 Californians to place it on the November ballot. After the initiative qualified, the California State Legislature passed groundbreaking consumer privacy legislation in June, which was signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown.

If you’ve come to our site from a search engine like Google or a social platform like Facebook, your information is possibly being collected, tracked, and shared by them. Learn more and/or opt-out of some sharing on CAPrivacy.org.

This website is intended for the sole use of United States citizens and permanent residents.

Paid for by Californians for Consumer Privacy. Committee major funding by Alastair Mactaggart.